Steve Robertson: Bringing Rock to Music City

Steve Robertson works in A&R at Atlantic Records. He has worked with Paramore, Day to Remember, Shinedown, and many more incredible artists.


Steve’s career in the music industry was sparked at a young age. Since he was 8 years old, Steve knew he wanted to work in radio. As he was figuring out what to do after graduating high school, he found a school that prepared him for radio. While there, Steve discovered his love for alternative rock, and made his way to become an assistant music director at WRR in Orlando.


Once Steve finally got his dream job and became an A&R for Atlantic, his only task was: “Go sign bands”.

However, he had a couple learning curves:

  1. Even though he liked songs, it didn’t mean that millions others would,
  2. The risk is significantly higher than the radio side,
  3. Not everyone wants to be signed by a major label,
  4. You have to work hard- get out there and become known.


“In A&R, you will definitely fail most of the time”


Not everything is smooth sailing, but after the learning curves, he shares his experiences of working with Paramore and how he discovered Shinedown.


Steve explains the “beautiful thing about a label” is that they can pick out a young artist, help him write better songs, find his band, say “I believe in you” and help guide him.


“It’s his vision. I didn’t do it. I just rode shotgun and scheduled things and helped things. He’s the one that said “I think it's called Shinedown’.”


Why Nashville? As the industry began massively downsizing because of the loss of CD’s, his colleagues started moving to Nashville. He heard big things were going on. He also began acquiring a taste for the americano/ country sound like Kacey Musgraves and Jason Isbell.


The industry is not an exact science.


During the interview, Steve goes more in depth with the way radio works, how technology shaped the industry, the top characteristic in signing an artist, and much more.


Check out some of Steve’s up and coming artists:


Josie Dunne http://www.josiedunne.com/

Betcha http://betchaband.com/

Galxara - coming soon

Illiterate Light https://www.illiteratelight.com/

Savannah Conley https://savannahconley.com/

Wilder Woods https://iamwilderwoods.com/


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Om Podcasten

Many want to "make it" in the music industry. Few successfully make it in. Even fewer stay in. The goal of this podcast is to help bring some clarity to your path towards a music career. We want to help you not only get in, but stay in. To this end, hosts Seth Mosley and X O'Connor will dig deep with luminaries of the music industry. These are people who have "made it" and today have very notable careers. Many are Grammy winners and work with prominent record labels. Some of our listeners might be on the creative side as a songwriter, artist, producer, or engineer. Others might be on the business side interested in marketing, management, A&R, or radio. The "Made It In Music Podcast" is designed to serve both sides; we are certain you will find a place in this community. How do you get a record deal, get a hit artist to cut your song, build fans, or get on tours? We tackle these questions and more. Before you know it, you will be able to say that you too have "Made It In Music!" Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.